"Believe me, I asked that question. She said she was in a rush, but would stop here on her way back to Bottlebrush. Said she had more to tell me about Will."

"That was all?" Jeff asked.

I closed my eyes, thought hard about every word Verna Mae and I had exchanged earlier. "That's all I remember, Jeff. Sounds to me like she was here in Houston, but that she didn't come to town just to chat with me."

"Maybe. Or she could have been passing through. Anything unusual about the tone of her voice? Was she nervous? Upset?"

"She seemed the same as when we met in person— someone whose roof wasn't nailed on tight."

He looked up from the notebook, his blue eyes narrow. "Explain."

"First off, the woman was as happy as a hog in a peach orchard when I brought Will to meet her. She may have been surprised to hear from us, but she was prepared. Verna Mae knew everything about Will, had followed his every move since the day he was left on her porch."

"How did that happen? Adoption files in this state are welded shut," Jeff said.

"With the cases I've worked so far, don't you think I know that? First thing I did after talking with Verna Mae was track down the caseworker who picked up baby Will from the local police. She owns a private nanny service now. I'm meeting with her Monday, and sure hope she can shed some light on how Verna Mae learned so much about my client."

"Could the Olsen woman have contacted Will Knight tonight? If she was as obsessed as you say, maybe she came to town to meet with him."

"Will would have called me, especially after how strange she seemed the other day," I said. "She made us both feel about as comfortable as Baptists in Las Vegas. No, I'm thinking Verna Mae had business in the city. Anyone with as much money as she seemed to have has business."

"You should know," Jeff answered with a grin.